Flavio Bolsonaro launches his presidential campaign with Milei and Netanyahu

The son of the former Brazilian president officially launched his candidacy on Saturday in São Paulo, surrounded by right-wing foreign supporters, while few leading Brazilian political figures made the trip.

It was at the headquarters of the Liberal Party, his father's party, that Flavio Bolsonaro officially announced his candidacy for the Brazilian presidency on Saturday, challenging incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The convention was particularly noteworthy for the presence of Argentine President Javier Milei and a video message from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Milei traveled to São Paulo the day before the event, meeting with the state governor, Tarcisio de Freitas, along the way. From the podium, he delivered a scathing speech against Lula, asserting that Bolsonaro could "save" Brazil from socialism. "We will continue to bear witness everywhere against the lies of socialism," he declared.

Netanyahu, for his part, spoke via video. "Flavio, my friend, I want to congratulate you on the official launch of your campaign," the Israeli Prime Minister said in the recording. "You are a great champion of Brazil, a great champion of the friendship between our peoples."

Flavio Bolsonaro presented the stakes of the election in Manichean terms. "This is not just a party convention," he told his supporters. "This is the beginning of the toughest battles of our lives. A fight between good and evil."

The political reality remains difficult for the candidate, however. Recent polls place him behind Lula, and his campaign has been plagued by setbacks and scandals. Center-right parties have kept their distance, and the absence of prominent Brazilian figures at the convention has not gone unnoticed. As for his father, sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempting a coup after his defeat to Lula in 2022, he was only able to participate via an AI-generated video.

Flavio Bolsonaro's campaign is also weakened by criticism of his ties to the administration of Donald Trumpperceived by some Brazilians as foreign interference. Brazil, in fact, refused visas on Saturday to two US administration officials who wished to meet with Brazilian electoral authorities to discuss "freedom of expression related to elections."

Like his father before him, Flavio Bolsonaro is also fueling doubts about the reliability of the Brazilian electoral system, rhetoric that his opponents see as preparation for contesting the results should he lose. Lula's Workers' Party, led by the 80-year-old president, is scheduled to hold its own convention on August 2nd to confirm his candidacy for re-election.